February 21-27, 2011
Headline News
Churches reflect on 228 Massacre from a Christian perspective
Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong, Chen Yi-hsuan
Written by Lydia Ma
As the nation remembers 228 Peace Memorial Day, many PCT local churches are doing the same. Hsinchu Canaan Presbyterian Church pastor Rev. Chen Po-chih said that his church’s Mandarin service for youths not only holds a prayer service asking God to comfort victims’ families, but also conducts a thematic Bible study on justice. They want to learn about God’s views on this issue and evaluate whether the country’s views aligns with God’s.
PCT has always maintained that “where there is no culprit, there is no justice” and that is primarily why it has never stopped keeping track of how government investigations are progressing with regards to uncovering what really happened and who should be held accountable.
PCT General Assembly and local presbyteries hold a prayer meeting on every February 28 and often invite victims’ families to attend. Their hope is that God would comfort these victims in their losses.
However, local churches that go out of their way to remember this tragedy or hold a service in remembrance the way Canaan Church has been doing is rare these days. Hence, it’s no wonder the next generation of Taiwanese are losing their national identity and less rooted to their country.
Similar to Canaan Church, Jenhe Presbyterian Church’s pastor Sung Hsin-hsi spoke from personal experience when he remarked that talking about the 228 Massacre required skill. He addresses this massacre whenever he teaches adult and children Sunday school on topics related to ancient Israel and uses it as an illustration of the price people have paid for democracy and freedom.
Sung admitted that retelling the tragedy of the 228 Massacre is indeed painful, but “healthy people should come to terms with their history.” Taiwan is indeed a very pitiful country because both Japan and China have sought to occupy it but couldn’t care less about its welfare.
But the purpose of educating the younger generation of Taiwanese about this massacre isn’t to elicit self-pity, Sung emphasized. Rather, it’s to remind young people that Taiwan must fend for itself and Taiwanese mustn’t look down on themselves, their country, or their culture.
Sung remarked that, in recent years, many Taiwanese dislike discussing the 228 Massacre. Some people feel that Taiwan is now a free country, so, there is no need to mention it, but Sung doubts that’s what true freedom looks like.
The second reason for avoiding the 228 Massacre is because many folks had high expectations of the DPP administration under former President Chen Shui-bian and they were subsequently deeply disappointed. In their disillusionment, they don’t want to mention the 228 Massacre as it can easily become politicized.
“But I believe the church ought to always be concerned about society and continue reaching out to those who are marginalized so that our faith in God can become their source of help,” he concluded.
